The present invention has been developed primarily for use in an agricultural environment for the control of water flow to a water trough that is intended for the use of livestock throughout the year, even in environmental conditions where frost or ice may form.
Most commercially available bowls or animal water troughs are fairly standard in their construction, the vast majority of these being float operated valves wherein a float is connected to a lever that in turn bears against the valve member.
The water level within the trough controls the position of the float which in turn controls the position of the lever. The position of the float control lever either allows the valve head to bear against the valve seat and thus restrict the flow of fluid or displaces the valve head away from the valve seat in order to allow fluid flow through the valve assembly.
There are numerous variations upon this theme due to the simplicity of this arrangement.
The simplicity of this arrangement has a number of advantages, not only the ease and simplicity of its construction, but also the fact that it can allow a rugged design which has few components that could malfunction in the harsh outdoor farming environment that it is anticipated that the valves will be utilised in.
Whilst these types of valves are relatively effective in most conditions, particularly the new more sophisticated variations, such as the applicant's own valve sold locally under the trade mark of “MEGAFLOW” in which the supply is filtered prior to going through the valve as this not only improves the quality of the water but also minimizes the risk of particles of detritus damaging or blocking the valve itself.
Several float operated valves, including the applicant's own “MEGAFLOW” valve rely on pressure equalisation either side of a flexible diaphragm to shut off the flow of fluid through the valve when the fluid level within the trough has reached the desired level.
These types of valves also include a small passage connecting either side of the diaphragm in order that a volume of water may flow past the diaphragm in order to achieve pressure equalization.
Whilst these types of valve system are generally trouble free, the vagaries of the environment can cause them problems, as if the temperature drops below the frost point (or freezing point) then these valves will ice up—which not only causes a cease of fluid flow into the trough but also means that due to the ice swelling within the valve there can be a degree of damage caused to the valve components or the valve housing itself.
In worse cases this freezing of the valve will cause the valve housing to split or the valve components themselves to be damaged so that when the ice is no longer present the valve will not function correctly resulting in either no water flowing through the valve or the valve being unable to terminate the water flow when required.
This therefore places a restriction on the use of these valves and either means that animals need to be enclosed in a shelter during periods of inclement weather—which is not only expensive but quite often impractical, or another means of manually providing water for the animals has to be employed.
Therefore an automatic system for controlling the water level within a trough during periods where the external temperature drops below frost point (or freezing point) is required.
All references, including any patents or patent applications cited in this specification are hereby incorporated by reference. No admission is made that any reference constitutes prior art. The discussion of the references states what their authors assert, and the applicants reserve the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinency of the cited documents. It will be clearly understood that, although a number of prior art publications are referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that any of these documents form part of the common general knowledge in the art, in New Zealand or in any other country.
It is acknowledged that the term ‘comprise’ may, under varying jurisdictions, be attributed with either an exclusive or an inclusive meaning. For the purpose of this specification, and unless otherwise noted, the term ‘comprise’ shall have an inclusive meaning—i.e. that it will be taken to mean an inclusion of not only the listed components it directly references, but also other non-specified components or elements. This rationale will also be used when the term ‘comprised’ or ‘comprising’ is used in relation to one or more steps in a method or process.
It is an object of the present invention to address the foregoing problems or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.
Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description which is given by way of example only.